


open wide, devour

by lateralplosion



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Transformation, Character Study, M/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17494253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lateralplosion/pseuds/lateralplosion
Summary: Once upon a time, Doyoung held him together too, before Jaehyun learned to pick up the pieces on his own.





	open wide, devour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [friday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/friday/gifts).
  * Inspired by [wild thoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014890) by [friday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/friday/pseuds/friday). 



> if you have not yet read _wild thoughts_ , the original work that inspired this remix, i would strongly suggest you do so! ♡

Jaehyun is used to walking lines. He's walked many over the years, putting one careful foot in front of the other, and somehow managed to make it to the other side. Some are easier to walk than others, but for the most part, it's hard. The line between onstage and offstage constantly smears, like permanent marker ink that is too fresh on glossy album pages. And Jaehyun has spent so much of his adolescence in front of cameras that he's forgotten when the lines started crossing over themselves and tangling up in each other. It's not something that's new, but it's something that never stops catching him off guard, every single time.

Jaehyun remembers the first time they had rehearsed _Switch_ without Hansol, and Jaemin and Yuta were still leaving places for him in the choreography on accident. That one had hurt, had taken some getting used to. But, as with all other things, it's just another line that's gone fuzzy over time—slow to fade, like a bruise.

Preparations for _Regular_ , though, come swift and sudden like the tide. Mostly, they are nights spent holed up in their recording studios, clutching cans of coffee and watching Taeyong psych himself out into panic attack after panic attack. More often than not, it's Doyoung at his side with an arm around his shoulders, whispering into Taeyong's ear in his sweet, dulcet baritone.

Jaehyun doesn't need to hear their conversation to know what he's saying—the gentle words of encouragement masking the steely urgency of his resolve. Doyoung's always known how to walk that tightrope between soft and hard, criticism and encouragement, how to strike that balance they all know Taeyong sorely needs. Two years ago, Doyoung would have talked to Jaehyun like that too. And, two years ago, Jaehyun just might have let him.

Now, it's just Jaehyun in the recording booth, singing his lines for _No Longer_ while Doyoung slides a palm down Taeyong's back on the other side of the window. As he looks up, Doyoung does too, molten eyes meeting his, boring a white-hot gaze into Jaehyun's skull. And something ignites within his core, unfurls its wings and beats them hard against the insides of his ribs. The recording booth feels, suddenly, claustrophobic—like a cage. Like Jaehyun is small and helpless and looking out at the world through the bars.

He hears his voice crack—embarrassingly—and on the other side of the window, Doyoung's mouth presses and flattens.

"Let's try that again, Jaehyun-ssi," the recording tech says, after an awkward silence.

Jaehyun swallows. "Sorry about that." He wrenches his eyes away from the glass to readjust his headphones. Doyoung isn't looking at him anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's nearly three in the morning by the time that Jaehyun stumbles back into their room. Donghyuck is already in bed and mumbling something under his breath as he rolls around in his blankets. He and Mark hadn't been with them tonight, preoccupied with schedules for Dream's comeback. Jaehyun always finds that he misses them during the late hours of the morning, when Mark's manic laser-like precision and Donghyuck's laughter would often be fuel enough to keep them going.

Jaehyun shucks his pants and climbs into bed, hooking one leg around his pillow and trying desperately to parse the way Doyoung's eyes had flashed at him dark and purposeful through the studio glass.

The sleep he falls into is fitful, and plagued with dreams that unsettle him. It feels like he's running, but he's not going anywhere, like his limbs are too small and useless to traverse the distances in his dreamscapes.

And, somewhere, beating there alongside his heart, is an urgency that yawns and bares its teeth, a burning desire so primal and animalistic, one that growls,  _I need, I need, I_ want.

Jaehyun wakes up with a gasp, sticky with sweat and out of breath, but none of that matters, because his roommate is gone, and in Donghyuck's place is a gold-dappled kitten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one had ever really taken the time to explain it,  _this_ —this thing that continues to happen to them. It just _is_ , inexplicably, a part of their lives now, like some hidden section of the trainee contract he'd overlooked before signing his youth away at fifteen. 

Jaehyun had been waiting with the others on the set of EXO 90:2014 the first time he'd learned of it, watching as the expressions on his sunbaes' faces slowly grew darker and exchanging nervous looks with Mark and Ten.

Finally, EXO's manager had burst onto the set and summoned Junmyeon with an urgent curl of his hand before launching into a hushed, whispered conversation with the PDs.

"Jongdae won't be joining us today," Junmyeon had told them all later, and Jaehyun remembered how Doyoung's face had utterly fallen. With good reason—Jongdae's voice was legendary, and Doyoung idolized him.

"How come?" Doyoung had asked then, a little shyly. "Is Jongdae-sunbaenim alright?"

"He's sick as a dog," Sehun chirruped before Junmyeon could answer, and collapsed into snickers right where he was sitting, half planted in Baekhyun's lap.

Junmyeon apparently had not found it very funny. 

"Sick?" Mark piped up, innocent. 

And then it had been Taeyong, who had been there longer than they all had, to sigh and smooth a hand over the back of Mark's head. "No, Mark," he said, fond and pitying. "Jongdae-hyung  _is_ a dog."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaehyun goes with Doyoung to deliver Donghyuck to the Dream dorm, standing awkwardly in the elevator and listening to Donghyuck's despondent little mewls from under the shoebox lid.

"Did you have to, uh—" Jaehyun swallows at the sharp look Doyoung gives him. "—you _know_ —" He gestures at the excess of twine wrapped around the shoebox. "I mean, it's Donghyuckie."

At this point, the only ones who have yet to turn are Jaehyun and Jeno. He doesn't remember when the shock of it all had started to wear off, but it's basically become routine by this point—boy becomes animal, boy changes back, life goes on. When it first started happening, Jaehyun had assumed that he would just bide his time until it was his turn, but the years have come and gone and Jaehyun still has resolutely remained human. He's not entirely sure how to feel about it.

"I don't like cats," Doyoung says, matter-of-factly, drumming his fingernails lightly on the lid. "Donghyuck or not, I won't voluntarily subject myself to getting scratched."

Jaehyun doesn't have anything smart to say to that, resigning himself to waving at Jeno through the elevator doors before Doyoung elbows his way past him to deposit Donghyuck's shoebox in Dream's foyer.

"You think it's a good idea to leave him with Jeno?" Jaehyun asks after the elevator doors had closed again, his question slicing through the silence as they take it up the three floors to their own dorm.

It's a loaded question. Doyoung's favoritism towards Jeno has always left Jaehyun feeling confused at best and conflicted at worst. And maybe Doyoung can feel the weight of it too, because he frowns for a second, letting the question fully settle in. His expression is careful, calculated, like he's hyperaware of everything he's going to say.

"Jeno will take care of him," Doyoung says at last, voice surprisingly gentle. "That much, at least, I know."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaehyun remembers when Doyoung had changed, almost two years ago.

He hadn't been the first (that honor went to Johnny, who had stayed in bear-form for eighteen hours after being cut from M1 and M2's final lineup of twelve), but he _had_ been the one transformation that Jaehyun remembers most in their ragtag group of trainees who'd decided they had nothing to lose by sticking together. It's a good group, Jaehyun thinks, one he wouldn't give up for the world. They might not have all been each other's first choice—the hurt had hung palpable around Johnny for a few months after the rejection—but they're all each other has now.

And, for the most part, time had seen them through.

( _For the most part_ , Jaehyun thinks, remembering Yuta and Jaemin's faces the day Hansol had gathered them in one of the dingy basement practice rooms.)

"What do you think?" Mark had asked him once, sometime before the drop of _Limitless_ , leaning over the back of the couch with eyes as round as coins. At seventeen, Mark still had some of his baby fat, cheeks pushing up into his eyes when he smiles.

Jaehyun looked up from his PSP, eyes following where Mark is pointing. "About what?"

"Doyoung-hyung," Mark said, blinking earnestly in his direction. "What d'you think he'll turn into? Johnny-hyung thinks he'll be a bunny. But I mean—he _does_ kind of look like one."

This had been a few days after Taeyong spent an entire afternoon as a meerkat, and it had been followed by lively discussions of who might turn into what, the way it always did. 

"What about a lizard?" Donghyuck butted in, gluing himself to Mark's side. Mark scowled and tried without much success to peel him off. "Or maybe a snake. Hyung is kind of reptile-y, you know?" Donghyuck said, wriggling his fingers.

Jaehyun had only laughed, trying to imagine Doyoung as a scaly lizard with bulging eyes. "Your guess is as good as mine," was all he'd said, before going back to his game.

But that was a lie, because somehow Jaehyun had known with some innate, instinctive certainty that it would be neither of those.

Somehow, he'd just had a feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, when Doyoung changed, a few days after their album drop, Jaehyun had feigned surprise along with the rest of them after finding the hawk perched on top of Johnny's bookshelf. Jaehyun can't say that he had expected this, but he'd stared at the hawk from his place in the kitchen and felt like nature was taking its course.

See, Doyoung made a beautiful bird—bronzed feathers lush and full, wings tucked sleekly into his sides, iron-gray talons, large yellow eyes. Jaehyun knew this even as some long buried instinct inside of him began to wake up, sending waves of adrenaline through his body, putting him on guard. And as hawk Doyoung singled him out from the others, affixing him with a steady, unblinking stare, Jaehyun had found himself rooted to the spot. Paralyzed, like he'd been plucked up and off the ground and his spine had been snapped at the neck.

"That can't be Doyoungie," Taeil murmured quietly, watching as Taeyong and Johnny tried to no avail to coax him down and laughed when Doyoung flapped his wings, indignant. "It just can't be."

But Jaehyun knew better—he  _had_ known better. He'd know those eyes from anywhere. Across time and across space, maybe. And Jaehyun had looked up at the hawk on Johnny's shelf and seen Doyoung there, because—human bandmate or bird of prey—those eyes were unmistakable. Unnervingly beautiful and a little bit frightening, now liquid and bright gold. Eyes that never left Jaehyun's face, not even for a second.

Eyes like a mouth.

Ready to open up wide and swallow him whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most distressingly, Donghyuck changes back into a human five days later, which Jaehyun is sure must be some kind of record.

"I mean, not that I'm competing with anyone or anything," Donghyuck says, rolling over onto his stomach and kicking up socked feet. "But I think I deserve a prize."

Jaehyun raises an eyebrow, noting the shirt Donghyuck is wearing and how it is distinctly too big for him. "What, getting a boyfriend out of it wasn't enough for you?" he teases, laughing at the pink that promptly blooms in Donghyuck's cheeks.

"Hyung, you have _got_ to stop using Chenle for all your dirt," Donghyuck says, indignant. "My reputation is at stake here!"

Whatever reputation Donghyuck is referring to, Jaehyun isn't sure. He snorts, amused. "Dunno if I was more surprised that you and Jeno are a thing, or hurt that you didn't tell me yourself, Donghyuck-ah."

"Sorry," Donghyuck says, smirking, sounding not the least bit sorry at all. "I forgot how slowly news travels amongst the single population. Don't worry, hyung, you'll find someone soon. You are, objectively, the most attractive man I know."

That compliment has long since lost its shock-value, but Jaehyun indulges it anyway. "Even more so than Jeno?"

Donghyuck laughs and stretches out on the bed, cat-like. "Hyung, please." His lips curl up with relish as he lies back, tucking his arms behind his head. "Just between the two of us, you're definitely the only one cute enough for me."

Now _that's_ news to him, and Jaehyun sits up a little straighter, cocking an eyebrow. "Should you really be saying that now that you have a boyfriend?" he asks with a wry smile.

Donghyuck waves one of his feet in the air. "Don't let it get to your head, now, hyung. You’ll still never be cuter _than_ me.”

Jaehyun stifles another laugh. “You did make a pretty cute cat.”

“I make a pretty cute boy,” Donghyuck says, giving him an affronted stare down. “And Jeno most certainly agrees with me.”

Jaehyun is confident that Jeno would follow Donghyuck into hell if he had to, so he's pretty sure that point is moot. But he shakes his head. "Okay brat, just you wait until Doyoung-hyung hears about this conversation.'

“Hears about what?” another voice cuts in, and both of them look up to see Doyoung standing in the doorway with his arms crossed expectantly.

Donghyuck bats his lashes coyly, completely unnerved. "Might be implying that Jaehyun-hyung is cuter than Jeno. Don't you agree, hyung?"

"Absolutely not," Doyoung says, without missing a beat. "Lee Donghyuck, get out."

Donghyuck scowls and stands up. "He’s my roommate!"

"This is _my_ room," Doyoung fires back, and Donghyuck stomps out with a huff. Doyoung rolls his eyes, throwing Jaehyun an exasperated look, and Jaehyun can only offer up a sheepish smile.

"Parental attachments hard to let go of, hyung?"

"You are not cuter than Jeno, Jung Yoonoh," Doyoung says, almost too quickly. "Let's make that very clear."

It sounds rehearsed, like affected nonchalance. Doyoung's good at that, Jaehyun thinks, at acting like things are less significant than they are.

"But I am cute enough for Donghyuck," Jaehyun says, before he can stop himself. "His words, not mine."

There's a brief pause before Doyoung's eyes flash with something, and Jaehyun feels his mouth go dry. "You'd be cute enough for anyone." Doyoung's tone is  still light, careful.

Jaehyun smiles back, just as careful. "Yeah," he says quietly, and Jaehyun feels like he is nineteen again and staring up at the hawk sitting on Johnny's shelf, feels Doyoung's gaze zero in on him and cut him deep to the core, the way only Doyoung can. "You're right."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I don't know, you guys—" Johnny had said, cupping his chin in his palm. "I still think that Jaehyunnie would make a very cute pig."

Jaehyun only snorted in response, tipping back dangerously in his chair. There were entirely too many of them to fit comfortably around the tiny kitchen table of their dorm, but that had never kept five teenage boys from two large Mr. Pizza Potato Golds.

"Pigs aren't cute," Yuta said, snatching up one of Taeyong's leftover crusts, and Johnny's hand fluttered up to his chest in mock offense.

"You did _not_ just say that—"

"He won't turn," Doyoung interrupted, startling all of them. "Were none of you listening when Junmyeon-hyung explained it? It happens when you're stressed."

Johnny snickered at Taeyong's sour expression. "Makes sense. Taeyongie almost bust an artery last week."

"You try juggling multiple comebacks," Taeyong mumbled, now handing his crust over directly to Yuta.

"Wait—" Jaehyun asked, feeling a little put out. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

Doyoung rolled his eyes. "You've gotten everything you could ever want in life. What could possibly stress _you_ out?"

Jaehyun frowned slightly. "That's not true," he said, at the same time that Yuta let out a loud cackle.

"Do I detect a bit of resentment?" Yuta turned to leer at Doyoung, knife-like. "Is someone jealous?"

"What's there to be jealous of?" Doyoung scoffed, and Jaehyun stared at him, feeling the backs of his ears going hot.  "It's no fun being the boring, handsome protagonist."

"Unless you're Mark," Johnny said wisely, and everyone nodded in fond agreement.

Taeyong sighed and closed the empty pizza boxes with a kind of weary finality. "Don't let manager-hyung see these," he said.

Doyoung shrugged, standing up to presumably take the boxes to the trash outside. Jaehyun grabbed one of the other boxes and followed him.

"Boring protagonist, huh," Jaehyun commented, watching the trash compactor press all of the folds out of the Mr. Pizza carton. When he was little, Jaehyun used to be scared of it, worried that he would accidentally stick his arm in and get pressed out all thin and flat like modeling clay.

"It was just a joke, Jung Yoonoh," Doyoung said, but Jaehyun could see how his shoulders stiffened just the slightest bit, the way his voice went just a little bit strained. "There's nothing wrong with getting what you want. Especially if you've worked hard for it."

"But I don't," Jaehyun said quietly, after a moment's pause. Doyoung glanced back behind him, brows furrowed. "Get everything that I want."

And for a prolonged second, Jaehyun had thought that Doyoung was going to tell him otherwise, or deflect with one of his usual acidic comebacks. But then Doyoung sighed and turned around, some of the tension in his shoulders bleeding out.

"Well, Jaehyun-ah," Doyoung said, still in that same, quiet voice. "Maybe that's just something you have to get used to."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaehyun thinks that, on some level, maybe Doyoung was wrong.

Doyoung was usually right about a lot of things, but he was wrong about this. Jaehyun didn't blame him.

When _Limitless_ had dropped, they'd all crowded into Johnny and Taeyong's room to see how well it would chart. Most of them had fallen asleep—Yuta and Sicheng curled up on each side of Taeyong, Mark and Donghyuck with their heads in Johnny's lap, Taeil sprawled out across all of them—but not Jaehyun. It had been almost impossible to fall asleep, observing Doyoung's face as he scrolled through Naver and social media, watching their rankings in real time, brow creasing in the blueish light of his phone screen.

Jaehyun had seen Doyoung through some shit. From the thing with his brother (jealousy was not a good look on Doyoung), to the fallout with Yuta at the beginning of 2016, to the breakdown Jaehyun remembered Doyoung valiantly trying to hide before their first _Without U_ comeback stage.

Along the way, Doyoung had gotten better at turning his anxieties into indifference, but Jaehyun could still tell—from the way Doyoung's fingers wrapped around his and squeezed, the way his pulse fluttered against his wrist—that he was scared. They all were, once.

"It'll be fine, hyung," Jaehyun whispered, impossibly close, against the shell of his ear. "They'll love you. They already do."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Doyoung mumbled back, his eyes never leaving his screen.

And it was then, at one in the morning, with seven of their other bandmates spread out sleeping around them, that Jaehyun leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of Doyoung's mouth. The kiss was light and brief, but enough to have Doyoung turning to stare up at him, the storms in his eyes tumultuous and unreadable.

"What are you doing, Jung Yoonoh," Doyoung whispered, voice tight, stuck in the back of his throat.

Jaehyun swallowed. "I'm—"

But he never got to finish his sentence, because Doyoung had scooted off Johnny's bed and left Jaehyun to the darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two days later, they'd found Doyoung on Johnny's manga shelf, talons gouging out marks in the wood, watching them—watching _Jaehyun_ —with those golden, golden eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They stay up again, nearly two years later, to watch _Regular_ chart at midnight. These days, it's a little easier because Doyoung has new people to take under his wing, and Jaehyun doesn't have to wonder why Doyoung's smile seems a little forced around him. Jungwoo sits off by himself, looking like he's about to cry, and Doyoung is there to card fingers through his hair and murmur low words into his ear, and at least Jaehyun knows that it's because of this.

Jaehyun sighs and squeezes himself onto the couch next to Taeyong, and for once, Taeyong doesn't look like he's going to start hyperventilating.

"Getting easier, hyung?" Jaehyun asks with an easy smile, feeling it grow bigger when Taeyong glances up, grinning.

"Never," Taeyong says, exhaling loudly and blowing up his bangs. "Just learning to keep it better hidden."

And maybe that's really all they can do—just get better at playing the game. Jaehyun's learned this one by heart, can do this with his eyes closed. And Doyoung—Jaehyun glances over to where Doyoung is sitting, wrapped around Jungwoo—Doyoung is getting good at it too.

"You should talk to him," Taeyong says suddenly, startling Jaehyun out of his reverie.

Jaehyun frowns. "Talk to who?"

And Taeyong grins, sharp and cat-like. "Come on, Jaehyun-ah, you think I don't notice? I've known you for _how_ long now?"

Jaehyun swallows and glances at Doyoung again. He's alone now, Jungwoo having gone to snuggle up against Mark, and typing out a rapidfire text message with his thumbs. Almost on cue, Doyoung looks up, and Jaehyun feels that same adrenaline rush from two years ago, the same stutter in his heartbeat, the one that says,  _danger_ , the one that says,  _wait._

"You know Doyoungie," Taeyong continues, almost gently now. "He's got a heart of glass."

A heart of glass, Jaehyun thinks, but the resolve of steel. Doyoung is holding over half of their group together, and Jaehyun knows it. Once upon a time, Doyoung held him together too, before Jaehyun learned to pick up the pieces on his own. Maybe that's what changed.

"Does Doyoung-hyung really think I'll hurt him?" Jaehyun asks quietly, mostly to himself, but Taeyong only hums, low and deep in his throat, and wraps a hand around Jaehyun's shoulder.

"It's not that," Taeyong murmurs. "He thinks you're perfect. He's afraid that he'll ruin _you_."

 

 

 

 

 

 

The board of directors bring them all in for a meeting sometime later that week, to introduce their newest Youtube series, _Nctzens Would Like This Too_. It's enough that Jaehyun doesn't even have time to think about Doyoung, or about Taeyong's comments that resonate around in his skull, even late at night after Donghyuck's gone to bed (or snuck off to the Dream dorms three floors below).

"I recently got a new moisturizing cream," Jaehyun says, smiling charmingly into the camera as he hunches over the laptop they'd given him. Jaehyun hears Sicheng snicker from across the room and bites back a laugh.

"Well, even if you use the same cream as Jaehyun, you can't get skin like his," Doyoung interrupts, the grin on his face wide and rakish. It's supposed to be a compliment, Jaehyun knows, but there's something in there that's sharp, something that digs its nails in and _pulls_.

Jaehyun grins dumbly and laughs, because this is a routine he's learned by heart, can do it with his eyes closed. And Jaehyun wonders if—maybe—he really had gotten stuck in the garbage compactor all those years ago, and had let it press him out all smooth and flawless and perfect, until there was nothing left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Did you ever want to know what it was, hyung?" Jaehyun asks softly, just barely loud enough for Doyoung to hear him over the music they're playing. They're in the Night Night studio, Johnny having gone to use the restroom, and Doyoung is sitting slumped in his chair with only one side of his headphones on, studying the script.

Doyoung wrinkles his nose, the way he does whenever he's thinking hard. "Did I ever want to know what, Jung Yoonoh?"

Jaehyun studies his face, the subtle set of his jaw. "What it was that I wanted but never got."

The smile that Doyoung gives him then is tight. "Didn't we agree that a little rejection wouldn't be so bad for you?" He's trying for a light tone, but it falls flat, and Jaehyun stares at him blankly as Crush continues to play over the speakers. Doyoung sighs, shoulders falling. "Do I want to know?" he asks finally.

It's a good question. Doyoung has spent the better part of their time together trying to pretend that his heart is ten times smaller than it is. If he'd intended for himself to come off as intimidating or unapproachable, then maybe in some way he'd succeeded. But Jaehyun has always been drawn to that, like a fly to a web, to whatever sits in the middle weaving fortresses out of silk. 

"Yes," Jaehyun says, and wraps his fingers around Doyoung's wrist. Doyoung's eyes go stormy again, and for a second Jaehyun is afraid that Doyoung is going to pull away. Doyoung isn't slight by any means, but the bones there feel like they might break under his touch. Heart of glass, resolve of steel, bones like sugar candy. "It's you, hyung."

Doyoung meets his eyes, and—for a moment—it's like they are Rookies again, and that Doyoung is still looking at him without hiding behind his feigned apathy. And then Jaehyun blinks, and the moment is gone. Just Doyoung sitting there in headphones that are too big for him, staring at him, stunned.

”Hyung,” Jaehyun says, and lets his thumb brush up against the inside of his palm. “Hyung, just _let_ me.”

The words come sudden and unbidden, as if someone had reached inside Jaehyun to pull out everything he's ever wanted to tell Doyoung but somehow couldn't. But they're honest. And it feels natural, feels right. Like the world falling into balance, nature setting its course. 

Doyoung stares at him for another second before swallowing. “Are you sure about this?” he asks, weakly. His wrist is still in Jaehyun's fingers. “It's—I'm not the easiest person to want.”

Jaehyun scoots his chair closer. “I work hard for what I want," he tells him. "For everything that I want."

Doyoung’s eyes flick up to his, and soften just a little bit. “Everything?”

Jaehyun dimples sweetly. "Everything."

And then Doyoung smiles back at him, shifting his grip to let Jaehyun lace their fingers together, and doesn't let go even when Johnny comes back from the bathroom. Jaehyun pointedly ignores the knowing look Johnny throws him, but at this point, it doesn't matter.

They'll have to talk about this later, that much Jaehyun knows.

But, at least, for now, Doyoung will give him this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Okay," Chenle says, peeling back the paper wrapper of the cup noodles Jaehyun had bought him, and rubs his hands together. "So I have more deets about Donghyuck-hyung and Jeno-hyung—you will _not_ believe what I walked in on the other day—and then I bet you don't know _anything_ of what I'm about to tell you about Renjun-hyung and Jaemin-hyung—"

"Alright," Jaehyun interrupts, amused, and leans forward. "But first, I have news for you too."

Chenle cocks his head to the side and breaks apart his chopsticks. "Do you?" he says, eyes two sparkling crescents. "Well, it better be good, hyung."

"Oh yes," Jaehyun says, and thinks about Doyoung. He grins broadly. "Oh, _yes_."

**Author's Note:**

> my dearest clare, i was so excited when i saw that i got you as my recipient, because i adore your fics and you! ♡ _wild thoughts_ was one of my favorite fics from 2018, so trying this take on it was super fun and challenging (especially because i've never tried writing hyungline before!) i hope you don't mind any liberties i've taken (i had most of this written before you dropped that illustrious tweet of your hyungline animal transformations hcs, though i loved taeyong's so much that i immediately swapped his out), and i hope it does the original fic justice as well. again, thank you sooo much for writing _wild thoughts_ , and i hope you enjoyed! ♡
> 
> BIG thank you to ash + modteam for letting me join dirtmix!! it was so much fun and i've really enjoyed reading all the amazing works that came out of it! also, giant kiss and thank you to naomi for helping me refine the dojaeisms and giving it her seal of approval, ehehe. also thank you to krys for holding my hand through the writing process, and of course everyone who reads this ♡ it means a lot!
> 
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/couplepaljji) | [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/haetbit)


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